The assembly and sealing of metal and other parts with chemical adhesives and sealants have become important product and maintenance tools in modern industry. One area of present interest is the joining and sealing of mating surfaces, by means of a chemical gasket.
A gasket is a sealing member of relatively soft material intended to be placed between a pair of mating surfaces, usually flanges, of components of relatively harder material to assist coupling the components by making the joint between them leakproof. The joint is effected by pressing the surfaces together with sufficient force to confirm the gasket to the surfaces. Most gaskets are cutouts from laminar material such as paper, cork, rubber or other various fiber compositions, and are non-adhesive in operation.
The chemical gaskets of the prior art suffer from several limitations which prevent their use in a number of important applications. Typically, these gaskets could not withstand temperatures of greater than 250.degree. F. for any length of time without degradation of properties. The instant composition has improved heat resistance due to the incorporation of a polyester-urethane-methacrylate compound, which heretofore has not been known to have been used in compositions such as the one disclosed herein.
For further detail of the prior art compositions, see co-pending application, Ser. No. 05/580,267, filed May 23, 1975, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,988.